It was noted for its power retractable hardtop, Bulgari designed interior instruments, head-up display, adaptive suspension, rear-mounted transmission and near 50/50 front-to-rear weight distribution.

The Cadillac XLR, although sometimes thought of as a badge-engineered variant of the C6 Chevrolet Corvette, also manufactured at GM's Bowling Green assembly, actually made its debut a year ahead of it.

While the two share the GM Y platform, hydroformed perimeter frame, and composite bodywork construction technology, each has distinct engines, bodies, interiors, and suspension settings, with the XLR also featuring a unique power retractable hardtop.

The XLR was the first production Cadillac with radar-based adaptive cruise control (ACC) and the first to offer both heated and cooled seats.

[6] The XLR was marketed as a luxury roadster and offered numerous features either as standard equipment or as options, including a touchscreen GPS navigation radio with an AM/FM radio, CD changer, XM Satellite Radio, full voice control, Bose premium amplified audio system, adaptive cruise control, Bulgari-branded instrument panel cluster,[7] OnStar, High Intensity Discharge (HID) front headlamps, perforated luxury leather-trimmed seating surfaces with power-adjustable, heated and cooled bucket seats with a driver's memory system, luxury carpeted floor mats with embroidered 'XLR' logos, premium aluminum-alloy wheels, and wood interior trim.

The system, marketed as Magnetic Ride Control, used four wheel-to-body displacement sensors to measure wheel motion over the road surface and responds by adjusting the shock damping almost instantly.

Cadillac gave the public its first glimpse of the supercharged XLR-V in its Super Bowl commercial, which aired February 6, 2005.